Aztec Ruins National Monument

Designated a National Monument in 1923, and a World Heritage Site in 1987, this large settlement planned and built by the ancestral Puebloans centuries ago rivals Chaco Canyon sites.  Located near Aztec, New Mexico along the Animas River, ruins include a huge Great House which may have been up to three stories high, and included some 400 individual rooms.  The Great Kiva has been reconstructed on the original site, so one can enter and observe the engineering used to form these great ceremonial structures.  

A self-guided walking tour takes one around the site, through the ancient doors and inside intact rooms.